Grand jury probes former Kemah mayor

By Harvey Rice |
July 17, 2014
| Updated: July 17, 2014 11:26am

GALVESTON - A Galveston County grand jury has subpoenaed a Kemah city official to testify about real estate transactions involving former Mayor Matt Wiggins, Kemah Mayor Bob Cummins said Thursday.

Cummins declined to identify the official. He said documents relating to Wiggins' real estate dealings while Wiggins was mayor from 2009 to 2011 also were subpoenaed. Cummins declined to provide further details about the documents.

"We have received a couple of subpoenas," Cummins said. "We have been visited by Galveston authorities and federal authorities."

FBI officials visited city offices Monday to question city employees and pore over city documents, Cummins said.

Wiggins was not immediately available for comment.

Cummins unseated Wiggins in 2011 and since then has been critical of real estate transactions the former mayor made after Hurricane Ike damaged most of the buildings in the tiny city in 2008.

"It's been a long time coming and we will just have to see if the legal system actually works," Cummins said.

Grand jury subpoenas for city documents involving Wiggins' real estate transactions were served last September, but this is the first time a city official has been subpoenaed to testify.

The Houston Chronicle examined records at Kemah City Hall that were reviewed by the FBI. The records involved purchases of storm-damaged properties by Wiggins through a straw purchaser, Kemah Municipal Judge Mark Foster.

The Chronicle reported in February that while in office, Wiggins acquired several properties damaged by Ike after the city building inspector imposed restrictions that discouraged the previous owners from rebuilding. In at least one case, those restrictions disappeared after a Wiggins associate acquired the property.